A finished barndominium at dusk with warm interior lighting glowing through its large windows.
Blount County 2018 IRC with Tennessee amendments

Barndominium Builders in Blount County, TN

Blount County runs from the valley floor at Alcoa and Maryville up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park boundary, so a single county holds gentle farm ground and genuinely steep mountain lots. That terrain is why two details in the county's own zoning matter more here than anywhere else we build: the 35-foot height limit is measured from the highest natural grade next to the building, which costs a walkout basement nothing in allowable storeys, and Section 7.14 lets the Building Commissioner cut the front setback on land averaging more than 15 percent slope. The county is an exempt jurisdiction, so Development Services on McArthur Road issues the residential permit for the unincorporated county while Maryville and Alcoa run their own building departments on different editions of the code.

Blount County at a glance

County
Blount County
Population
143,820
ZIP codes
37801, 37803, 37804, 37701, 37737, 37777, 37853, 37882, 37886
Site visits
About 200 miles east of our Franklin office
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Building conditions in Blount County

What actually changes from one Tennessee jurisdiction to the next: who issues the permit, whether the residential code is enforced there at all, what the structure has to be engineered to, and what the ground is like. These are the numbers your drawings have to satisfy.

Build conditions for Blount County , Tennessee: design wind speed 115 mph in Alcoa, 90 mph in Maryville. BUILD CONDITIONS BLOUNT COUNTY, TNEast TennesseeCRITERIA SET LOCALLY DESIGN WIND SPEED 115 mph in Alcoa, 90 mph in MaryvilleBoth cities insert their own figures into Table R301.2(1) by ordinance. The unincorporated county…ZONING · R-1 RURAL DISTRICT 1 AND R-2 RURAL…30,000 sq ft in R-1 on septic; five…Both districts permit one or two single family dwellings on a single…PERMIT REVIEW CLOCK5 business daysPublished review target of the issuing authorityPLAN REVIEW FEE$75 at or below $250,000 valuationBlount County's published schedule sets residential plan review at $75…WHO ISSUES THE PERMITBlount County Development Services…1221 McArthur Road, Maryville, 865-681-9301. Applications are taken in…Design criteria are filled in by the jurisdiction under Table R301.2 and are confirmed per parcel before any drawing is sealed.
Build conditions for Blount County, drawn from the sourced facts on this page. Every figure above is cited in the quick-facts panel below, with its source and vintage.
Who issues the permit
Blount County is an exempt jurisdiction, which means it certified its own programme to the state and enforces it. Development Services states plainly that it enforces the commercial and residential regulations of the 2018 edition of the International Code Council, and its Department of Building Safety covers the building, residential, fuel gas, mechanical, plumbing, energy conservation and accessibility codes. The office is at 1221 McArthur Road in Maryville on 865-681-9301, and applications are taken in person between 8:00am and 4:30pm.

Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office, Residential Jurisdictions & Inspectors, accurate as of 21 August 2026, tn.gov/commerce/fire/residential-permits/jurisdictions-inspectors.html; blounttn.gov/296/Development-Services; Blount County Permitting Process Reference Manual, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/254, fetched 31 August 2026

Two published design criteria tables, two different wind speeds
Alcoa and Maryville each fill in Table R301.2(1) by ordinance, which almost no Tennessee jurisdiction does. Both list a 10 psf ground snow load, Seismic Design Category C with an SDS of 0.414g, a 12-inch frost line, Severe weathering, a moderate to heavy termite rating and a 19 degree winter design temperature. They differ on one line: Alcoa inserts 115 for wind speed and Maryville inserts 90. Those are the two conventions the wind maps are drawn in rather than two different climates, so the engineer confirms which one the drawings answer to before steel is ordered.

Alcoa Municipal Code Sec. 12-202(13) to (15) and Maryville Municipal Code Sec. 12-602, Chapter 3 amendments, via MTAS at mtas.tennessee.edu, fetched 31 August 2026

Metal cladding is a commercial rule here, not a residential one
The Blount County Zoning Resolution does say that exterior walls visible from public roads shall be constructed of at least 50 percent nonmetal building materials, and it does carry rules against a monolithic box appearance. Every word of that sits in Section 7.15, Design Requirements for Commercial and Industrial Developments, which applies only to a commercial or industrial use requiring site plan review. A detached single family dwelling in R-1 or R-2 is expressly outside site plan review, so a metal-skinned house on rural Blount County acreage is not caught by it.

Blount County Zoning Resolution Secs. 7.15.A and 7.15.C.3, compared against Secs. 9.2.E and 9.3.E, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25012, updated through 18 December 2020, fetched 31 August 2026

Land, lot size and floor area
R-1 Rural District 1 wants 30,000 square feet per unit on septic, or 23,000 on public sewer. R-2 Rural District 2, the low-density mountain district, wants five acres per unit and caps density at 0.2 units per gross acre. Both permit one or two single family dwellings on a single lot by right. And the resolution sets no minimum floor area for a dwelling at all, in any district. Lot size, setbacks and the 35-foot height cap are the only dimensional controls on the house itself.

Blount County Zoning Resolution Secs. 9.2.F, 9.2.G, 9.2.H, 9.3.F and 9.3.H, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25012, fetched 31 August 2026

Septic runs through the county, including inside the cities
The Blount County Department of Environmental Health, part of Development Services at 1221 McArthur Road, issues the septic layout under the state's subsurface sewage disposal rules, and it publishes its own soil scientist list and installers and pumpers list. Both cities push septic back to it: Alcoa's building code amendment sends private sewage disposal systems to the Blount County Environmental Health Department, and Maryville rewrote IRC Section R306.1.7 to point at the Blount County Health Department. So the septic call is the same call whether the parcel is rural or in town.

Blount County Permitting Process Reference Manual, Scope of Regulatory Authority; blounttn.gov/300/Definitions-of-Services and /303/Soil-Scientist-List; Alcoa Municipal Code Sec. 12-102(3); Maryville Municipal Code Sec. 12-602, R306.1.7 amendment, fetched 31 August 2026

Slope, height and the walkout basement
In both rural districts height is measured as 35 feet above the highest natural grade immediately adjacent to the structure. On a cross-slope lot the uphill side is the datum, so an exposed walkout storey on the downhill side does not eat into the allowance. Section 7.14 then lets the Building Commissioner reduce the front setback on lots averaging more than 15 percent slope, down to 35 feet from the road centreline, on a topographic map at five-foot contours plus a slope analysis, with written findings attached to the permit.

Blount County Zoning Resolution Secs. 7.14, 9.2.H and 9.3.H, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25012, fetched 31 August 2026

Also worth knowing before you build in Blount County

Three editions of the code inside one county
Tennessee's statewide residential code is the 2018 IRC. Blount County enforces the 2018 International Codes. Alcoa adopted the 2018 IRC, Chapters 1 to 23, 25 to 33 and 44 with Appendices E, H and J, by Ordinance 18-464 in November 2018. Maryville went to the 2024 IRC by Ordinance 2025-23 in December 2025, a full edition ahead of the state. Exempt jurisdictions have to adopt codes within seven years of the current published edition, which is what drives it.

Maryville Municipal Code Sec. 12-601 (Change 1, 2 December 2025) and Alcoa Municipal Code Sec. 12-201, via mtas.tennessee.edu; blounttn.gov/296/Development-Services; Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office, Exempt Jurisdictions for Commercial Buildings, citing T.C.A. 68-120-101(b)(5)(A), fetched 31 August 2026

Friendsville is the exception
Blount County, Alcoa, Louisville, Maryville, Rockford and Townsend are all listed as exempt jurisdictions running their own residential enforcement. Friendsville is listed on the State Residential Building Program, so the State Fire Marshal's Office issues the residential permit and inspects inside that one town. It is the only place in the county where the permit does not come from a local building department, and it is worth settling which side of the line a parcel sits on before anything else.

Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office, Residential Jurisdictions & Inspectors, accurate as of 21 August 2026, tn.gov/commerce/fire/residential-permits/jurisdictions-inspectors.html, fetched 31 August 2026

The soils test comes before the septic application
Blount County's own permit checklist for one and two family dwellings puts a geology and soils analysis at step two, ahead of the septic permit application, on any parcel not on sewer, and allows up to 15 days for it. The drain field site evaluation is a further step allowing up to 10 days, and the storm water site review another 10. Only then does the building permit application go in. On a mountain parcel that soils step is where the build is decided, so it is the first money we spend, not the last.

Blount County Permitting Process Reference Manual, Appendix E, Permit Process & Inspection Checklist, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/254, fetched 31 August 2026

A grading permit before the cut
An application for a grading permit has to go to the Blount County Department of Storm Water before the beginning of any grading, clearing, excavating, filling or other disturbance of natural terrain. Fill material must be at least 90 percent soil, with no demolition material or household waste, and on-site brush and stumps can make up no more than 10 percent of it. On a sloping lot where the walkout cut generates spoil, that governs where the spoil can go.

Blount County Permitting Process Reference Manual, grading and erosion control section, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/254, fetched 31 August 2026

Electrical is a separate state permit
The county permit covers plumbing, mechanical and gas but not electrical. The State of Tennessee permits and inspects all electrical work in Blount County, applied for through the local utility district, and the final state electrical inspection has to be approved before the county will issue a Certificate of Occupancy. That matches the state code, which deletes the IRC electrical chapters outright. Occupying before the certificate issues is a Class C misdemeanour.

Blount County Permitting Process Reference Manual, Permit process and Appendix E, blounttn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/254, fetched 31 August 2026

How much of the county is outside the two cities
Blount County holds 558 square miles and about 143,820 people, up from 135,280 at the 2020 census. Maryville had 31,907 and Alcoa 10,978 at that census, which leaves roughly two thirds of the county living outside the two cities, in the unincorporated area and four small towns. The county is bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the east and TVA lakes to the west, and the zoning resolution carries a National Park District for the park and the Foothills Parkway.

blounttn.gov/722/About; US Census Bureau 2020 census and 2025 county estimate via USAFacts; Blount County Zoning Resolution Articles 8 and 9.7, fetched 31 August 2026

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Below the slab

The expensive surprises are in the ground, not the building

What moves a Tennessee budget is usually below grade: limestone sitting shallow, karst voids and sinkholes, and slope. Those are the same conditions that decide whether a septic field passes its soil and site evaluation, so the grading plan, the footing depth and the drainfield get resolved together rather than one at a time. We price the dirt before we price the building.

What we build in Blount County

All nine services are available across Blount County. What a build costs depends far more on the parcel than on square footage, so we price against your land rather than publishing a rate card.

Barndominium Kits

Engineered barndominium shell packages delivered to your Tennessee lot, stamped for the criteria your county adopted.

Turnkey Builds

Start to finish barndominium construction: we handle permits, slab, shell, and full interior finish.

Custom Plans

Barndominium floor plans drawn to your land, your family, and the residential code your county actually enforces.

Post-Frame Homes

Pole barn construction adapted into full residences, with wide clear spans and fast dry-in.

Steel Construction

Red-iron and light-gauge steel framing: no rot, no termites, engineered to your county’s adopted wind criteria.

Shouses

Shop and house in one building: workspace and living space under a single roof and a single permit.

Metal Homes

Full metal-clad residences: low maintenance envelopes specified to your Tennessee climate zone.

Site Preparation

Clearing, grading, pad, drainage, and utilities: the work that decides whether the build goes smoothly.

Permitting & Engineering

Sealed structural engineering and the permit that depends on it, from submittal through final inspection.

What a build looks like

Three stages every Blount County project passes through, from a raw parcel to a finished home. Site work first, because that is where the budget is decided.

Aerial view of an undeveloped rural lot with cleared grass, a cedar and hardwood treeline, and a pale gravel access track.
Stage one

The parcel

Zoning, setbacks, flood zone and utility access get checked before anything is drawn.

An excavator grading a compacted building pad on a cleared lot, with survey stakes and a drainage swale visible.
Stage two

Pad and permit

Clearing, grading and a compacted pad, while the submittal works through Blount County.

A finished barndominium at dusk with warm interior lighting glowing through its large windows.
Stage three

Frame to finish

Shell erected and dried in, then systems, insulation and interior finish through to CO.

Those are the rules for Blount County. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it to them.

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Where we build around Blount County

Blount County and the rural land around it. The buildable acreage for a project this size usually sits outside the city limits, which is frequently what changes who issues your permit.

Our Blount County service area, covering Blount County and the surrounding rural acreage. We build across this area from our office in Franklin, TN — this map marks the territory we serve, not a branch location.

Keep reading

The questions that usually come next once you know what Blount County allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and by size, with a calculator built on the same figures.

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Is It Legal in Tennessee?

Classification, zoning, the HOA gate, and why "nonresidential farm building" does not cover a home.

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How Long Does It Take?

Census build-duration data, and what actually sets the permit clock where you are building.

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Sources for this page

The primary documents behind the Blount County figures above. We would rather you checked them than took our word for it.

Nearby areas we build in

Others we cover in this part of Tennessee. The permitting authority, the adopted design criteria and the zoning can all differ from one to the next.

Knoxville

Knox County
Sevier County

Sevier County
Loudon County

Loudon County

Building in Blount County: common questions

7 questions we get asked most often about building in Blount County. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Blount County?
Yes, and it comes from the county rather than the state. Blount County is listed by the State Fire Marshal's Office as an exempt jurisdiction, which in Tennessee means the county certified that it adopts and enforces its own codes. Development Services at 1221 McArthur Road in Maryville issues the residential permit for the unincorporated county and enforces the 2018 International Codes, and the same office handles zoning, storm water and septic. Applications are taken in person between 8:00am and 4:30pm on 865-681-9301. Inside Maryville, Alcoa, Louisville, Rockford or Townsend the city permits instead. Friendsville is the one place in the county where the State Fire Marshal's Office still issues the residential permit, so the first thing to settle on any parcel is which of those three answers applies to it.
Can a barndominium in Blount County have metal siding?
On rural county acreage, yes. The Blount County Zoning Resolution does contain a rule that exterior walls visible from public roads be at least 50 percent nonmetal building materials, and people quote it at each other, but it sits in Section 7.15, which is headed Design Requirements for Commercial and Industrial Developments and applies only where a commercial or industrial use needs site plan review. One or two single family dwellings on a single lot in R-1 or R-2 are expressly excluded from site plan review, so the clause never reaches them. The same section carries the rules about avoiding a monolithic box appearance, and those are commercial too. Inside Maryville and Alcoa the city zoning ordinance is a separate document from the codes we have read, so on a city parcel we pull the current district standards before the exterior is specified.
How much land do I need, and is there a minimum house size?
In R-1 Rural District 1 the minimum is 30,000 square feet per unit on an individual septic system, about seven tenths of an acre, or 23,000 square feet on public sewer. R-2 Rural District 2, the low-density district that covers the higher and steeper ground, wants five acres per unit and caps density at 0.2 units per gross acre. Setbacks in both are 30 feet at the front, 20 at the rear and 10 at the sides, and an accessory structure can come within 5 feet of the rear line. As for house size, there is no minimum. The county resolution sets no minimum floor area for a dwelling in any district, so the only limits on the building itself are the setbacks and the 35-foot height cap.
Does a steep lot near the Smokies rule out a walkout basement?
Usually the opposite. Blount County measures the 35-foot height limit from the highest natural grade immediately adjacent to the structure, so on a cross-slope lot the uphill side sets the datum and the exposed storey on the downhill side does not count against the allowance. The uphill wall has to be retained whatever you build; a walkout turns that retaining wall into a floor with daylight and a door. Blount County also wrote Section 7.14 for exactly this ground: on a lot averaging more than 15 percent slope the Building Commissioner can reduce the front setback to as little as 35 feet from the road centreline, on a topographic map at five-foot contours with a slope analysis, and the written findings get attached to the permit. What decides it is not the slope but the soil and the depth to rock, which is settled by the geology and soils analysis before anything is priced.
Who handles the septic permit, and when in the process does it happen?
The Blount County Department of Environmental Health, which is part of Development Services at 1221 McArthur Road on 865-681-9301. That is different from the Tennessee default, where the state's Division of Water Resources permits subsurface sewage disposal, and it holds inside the cities too: Alcoa's building code sends private sewage disposal systems to the county Environmental Health department and Maryville amended the residential code to do the same. The order matters. On a parcel that is not on sewer, the county's own checklist puts a geology and soils analysis first, allowing up to 15 days, and it must be completed before the septic permit application is even made. The drain field site evaluation allows up to 10 days after that. The building permit application comes later, so a septic problem surfaces before the house is designed rather than after.
What design criteria will the engineer build to on a Blount County parcel?
A clear-span barndominium exceeds the prescriptive tables in the residential code, which makes it an engineered building under Section R301.1.3, so a Tennessee-licensed engineer designs the frame and its base connections to the criteria the jurisdiction sets. In Blount County there are published figures to work from where there usually are not. Alcoa and Maryville both fill in Table R301.2(1) by ordinance: a 10 psf ground snow load, Seismic Design Category C with an SDS of 0.414g, a 12-inch frost line, Severe weathering, a moderate to heavy termite rating and a 19 degree winter design temperature. They differ on wind speed, Alcoa inserting 115 and Maryville 90, which are the two conventions the wind maps are drawn in rather than two different climates. The unincorporated county publishes no table of its own, so on a rural parcel we get those numbers in writing from Development Services before the frame is ordered.
Which code edition applies, and does it change across the county?
It does, and this is one of the few counties in Tennessee where it genuinely matters. The state's residential code is the 2018 IRC. Blount County enforces the 2018 International Codes, and Alcoa adopted the 2018 IRC with local amendments by ordinance in November 2018. Maryville adopted the 2024 IRC in December 2025, putting the county seat a full edition ahead of the state. That is not an accident: an exempt jurisdiction in Tennessee has to adopt codes within seven years of the current published edition. In practice it means a plan set drawn to satisfy Maryville and a plan set drawn to satisfy the county are answering to different section numbering, and the fire, egress and energy details are where the differences show up. We confirm the edition and any local amendments with the permitting office for the specific parcel before drawings are finished.

What clients say

4.9 out of 5 based on 8 reviews Placeholder content

Ordered the shell kit and erected it with my brother-in-law over about six weekends. The drawings were clear, the bolt schedule matched what showed up on the truck, and the county inspector had no issues with the engineering.

Marisol T. June 2, 2026

We had ten acres outside town and no idea what we could legally put on it. They pulled the zoning and the A-1 lot minimum before we spent anything on drawings, which saved us from buying plans for a building that would not have been approved.

Dale W. July 18, 2026

Turnkey from a cleared lot to certificate of occupancy. What I appreciated most was that when plan review came back with comments, I heard about it the same day along with what they were doing about it.

Ray B. April 27, 2026

Building in Blount County?

Start with the plan. Tell us what you want to build and we will draw it, then confirm what Blount County will actually let you put on the parcel and what wind load it has to meet. That conversation costs nothing.

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